RANKING: $1,000 Mortgage in 10 Markets

A new study of U.S. cities where homeowners pay $1,000 per month or less on their mortgage shows that despite ongoing national affordability woes, some markets remain affordable.

According to Realtor.com, homebuyers seeking markets with the lowest monthly mortgages will have to reckon with tighter job markets, and less to do. Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm, tells the listing site, "Right now, the Rust Belt area and parts of the South are where home buyers will get the biggest bang for their buck. Stay away from the West Coast, where home prices aren't showing too many signs of slowing down."

Get ready for yet another housing milestone: For the first time, median home list prices have topped $300,000 in America. And with that comes a steady rise in mortgage prices—median home loans have grown 19.7 percent, to $229,000, over the past five years, according to a realtor.com analysis of Optimal Blue mortgage data. But here's the big problem: Wage growth hasn't come close to following suit. In the most recent five-year span tracked by census, household incomes rose only 10 percent. And most of those gains were eaten up by inflation. Ouch!

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